Devil in the Dollhouse: A Sandman Slim Story #3.5

James Stark, a.k.a. Sandman Slim, has a new job, but being the new Lucifer in town gives fresh meaning to the word "Hell." Especially when he hears of hideous massacres near a haunted fortress out on Hell's frontier. As far as Stark's concerned, the more dead Hellions, the better, but he still has to prove that no one screws with Sandman Slim. And facing creatures so terrible even Hell does not want them is no cakewalk, even for Lucifer.

Killing Pretty: A Sandman Slim Novel

James Stark has met his share of demons and angels, on Earth and beyond. Now he's come face to face with the one entity few care to meet: Death. Someone has tried to kill Death - ripping the heart right out of him - or rather the body he's inhabiting. Death needs Sandman Slim's help: He believes anyone who can beat Lucifer and the old gods at their own game is the only one who can solve his murder.

The Perdition Score: A Sandman Slim Novel

The request from Thomas Abbot, the Augur of the Sub Rosa council, couldn't come at a better time for James Stark, aka Sandman Slim. For a man who's most recently met Death - and Death's killer - a few months of normal life is more than he can handle. He needs a little action, and now Abbott wants Stark and Candy to investigate the disappearance of a young boy - and help uncover council members who might be tied to Wormwood's power brokers.

Monster Hunter Memoirs: Sinners

With New Orleans out of control, Chad Oliver Gardenier, one of Monster Hunter International's premier hunters, has been dispatched from Seattle to reinforce the beleaguered members of MHI'S Hoodoo Squad in their fight against the darkness.

The Everything Box: A Novel

A beautiful, ambitious angel stands on a mountaintop, surveying the world and its little inhabitants below. He smiles because soon, the last of humanity who survived the great flood will meet its end, too. And he should know. He's going to play a big part in it. Our angel usually doesn't get to do fieldwork, and if he does well, he's certain he'll get a big promotion.

Butcher Bird: A Novel of the Dominion

Spyder Lee is a happy man who lives in San Francisco and owns a tattoo shop. One night an angry demon tries to bite his head off before he's saved by a stranger. The demon infected Spyder with something awful - the truth. He can suddenly see the world as it really is: full of angels and demons and monsters and monster-hunters. A world full of black magic and mysteries. These are the Dominions, parallel worlds full of wonder, beauty, and horror

Dead Ground: Harbinger P.I., Book 4

When my old friend Jim Walker asks me to fly up to Canada and take a look at a strange murder case, it sounds like a good excuse for barbecue and brewskis. But the party gets crashed by a pit-load of demons and things take a turn for the worse. Throw a faerie queen and a couple of ancient vampires into the mix and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Promise of Wrath: Hellequin Chronicles, Book 6

A terrible storm is brewing in London, and Nathan Garrett, the sorcerer known as Hellequin, is the only one who can stop it. But his enemies have other plans. Harnessing the power of an ancient stone tablet, they cast Nate and his allies into another realm, where a bloody conflict rages between creatures twisted by magic. Meanwhile, with his friends' lives in danger, Nate must put centuries of differences aside, and place his trust in one of his greatest foes.

Demon Moon: Prof Croft, Book 1

Show me an amateur conjurer, and I'll stop him before he gets himself killed. That's the idea, anyway. But New York City isn't what it used to be, and I don't mean the recent crash. Amateur casters are calling up creatures they shouldn't be able to. And there's been a murder at the city's most hallowed cathedral, a message in blood on the victim's back the NYPD wants me to interpret, like yesterday.

Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge

When marine private Oliver Chadwick Gardenier is killed in the marine barrack bombing in Beirut, somebody who might be Saint Peter gives him a choice: Go to heaven, which, while nice, might be a little boring, or return to earth. The Boss has a mission for him, and he's to look for a sign. He's a marine: He'll choose the mission. Unfortunately, the sign he's to look for is "57". Which, given the food services contract in Bethesda Hospital, creates some difficulty. Eventually it appears that God's will is for Chad to join a group called Monster Hunters International.

The Castle Doctrine: Daniel Faust, Volume 6

Out of prison and back on the streets, Daniel Faust returns home to a city on fire. The Chicago mob is making their play for control of Las Vegas, with an army of gunmen and a lethal shapeshifter on their side, while Daniel's friend Jennifer marshals the forces of the Vegas underworld. Staying on the sidelines isn't an option, especially when a Metro detective orders him to get the war under control - and if he can't, he'll expose Daniel's secrets to the FBI.

Rogues

Demon Accords number 10. When a hunter is brutally mauled in northern Maine, it's presumed that a black bear is the killer. But an astute local deputy suspects a more supernatural element. His call for assistance is answered by the supernatural community sending one of their very best. If it takes a thief to catch a thief, who do you use to catch a werewolf? But nothing is ever simple in the preternatural world. There's more here than meets the eye... nose... ear... or fang.

Book of Souls: A Prof Croft Prequel

Let's go back to the night I turned 13, the night Grandpa filleted my finger with his cane sword. I can't say what terrified me more, the cold anger in his eyes or the crazy things in his locked study. A talking trunk. Squirming coats. A bookshelf whose titles shifted before my eyes. And one chilling title in particular: Book of Souls. Ten years later I'm on my way to a Romanian monastery, in search of that lost book. But I'm not the only one. Three others have beaten me to the local village: two researchers and...

Heaven Sent: Quincy Harker Demon Hunter, Book 5

Quincy Harker is walking on the side of the angels this time. Or at least beside an angel. It's the summer of 2009, and Harker, the immortal magic-wielding nephew of Dracula, has a brand-new guardian angel. Her name is Glory, and she's there to try to keep Harker from getting himself killed. Try is the operative word.

Fated: Alex Verus Series, Book 1

Alex Verus is part of a world hidden in plain sight, running a magic shop in London. And while Alex's own powers aren't as showy as some mages, he does have the advantage of foreseeing the possible future-allowing him to pull off operations that have a million-to-one-chance of success. But when Alex is approached by multiple factions to crack open a relic from a long-ago mage war, he knows that whatever's inside must be beyond powerful.

Dead Man: Black Magic Outlaw, Book 1

I'm Cisco Suarez: necromancer, shadow charmer, black magic outlaw. Sounds kinda cool, doesn't it? It was, right until I woke up half dead in a dumpster. Did I say half dead? Because I meant 100% dead. Full on. I don't do things halfway. So here I am, alive for some reason, just another sunny day in Miami. It's a perfect paradise, except I'm into something bad. Wanted by police, drenched in the stink of dark magic, nether creatures coming out of the woodwork, and don't get me started on the Haitian voodoo gang.

Powder Trade: Black Magic Outlaw, Book 4

Cisco Suarez versus an entire Caribbean drug cartel. Round one. Fight. Okay, not exactly the most even championship match, but it's the one I drew. If you told me months ago I'd be robbing drug dealers, I would've committed you myself. Who needs that kind of trouble, right? The good news is I'm only after one man: Connor Hatch. The bad news is he's the new Pablo Escobar, a primal being, and all but untouchable.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob): Bobiverse, Book 1

Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets.

The Purloined Poodle

Thanks to his relationship with the ancient Druid Atticus O'Sullivan, Oberon the Irish wolfhound knows trouble when he smells it - and furthermore, he knows he can handle it. When he discovers that a prizewinning poodle has been abducted in Eugene, Oregon, he learns that it's part of a rash of hound abductions all over the Pacific Northwest. Since the police aren't too worried about dogs they assume have run away, Oberon knows it's up to him to track down those hounds and reunite them with their humans. For justice! And gravy!

Hard Luck Hank: Stank Delicious, Book 5

Belvaille has cemented its place as the most important system in the galaxy and Hank is working as an official Factotum, negotiating deals between gangs and noblemen under the watchful eye of the Arch Minister. When his ever-capable butler, Cliston, is approached to become the General Manager of a Super Class glocken team, Hank is hired not only as protection, but as a player. Hank finds himself thrown into the most grueling bloodsport in the galaxy and tasked with finding out how and why players are being abducted.

God Touched: The Demon Accords, Book 1

Chris Gordon is a rookie with the NYPD - one with a secret. In his spare time Chris is an exorcist without equal, with a gift from God. But when he saves a beatiful girl from a demonic attack, he discovers there is more to fear than just demons. Finding himself surrounded by vampires and were-weasels and facing a giant short-faced bear, Chris struggles to stay alive, all while protecting his deadly new girlfriend. And then there's her overprotective vampire mother!

Year One: A Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter Collection

There are things in this world that men and women aren't meant to understand. We aren't supposed to know these things exist, much less how to fight them. The things that go bump in the night, the monsters in the closet, the shadow out of the corner of your eye - that's where I live.

Orb: Nightlord, Book 3

We all have inner demons. We fight them all the time. Some of us achieve inner peace by coming to terms with them. But how do you come to terms with inner demons that tear free and become outer demons? Eric has been a vampire for nearly a century, and his demons are more than metaphors. While they controlled him, he was the Demon King. Now he has to avoid the monsters in his own mind, as well as angry nobles, fanatical religions, assassins, magi, other vampires, criminal organizations, and more.

Shadow Play: Black Magic Outlaw, Book 2

I'm Cisco Suarez, and a week ago I was dead. Cursed into serving a clandestine shadow group, I have a lot of blood on my hands. Good thing I also have a juvenile problem with authority. I'm not taking orders anymore, and the first thing on my bucket list is bringing them down. If I'm good at anything, it's looking in dark places. But I've got shadows of my own. Horrific deeds coming back to haunt me, and not the metaphorical kind of haunting, either. I'm talking ghosts, mages, and that thing with the glowing red eyes.

Publisher's Summary

James Stark, a.k.a. Sandman Slim, crawled out of Hell, took bloody revenge for his girlfriend’s murder, and saved the world along the way. After that, what do you do for an encore? You take a lousy job tracking down monsters for money. It’s a depressing gig, but it pays for your beer and cigarettes. But in L.A., things can always get worse.

Like when Lucifer comes to town to supervise his movie biography and drafts Stark as his bodyguard. Sandman Slim has to swim with the human and inhuman sharks of L.A.’s underground power elite. That’s before the murders start. And before he runs into the Czech porn star who isn’t quite what she seems. Even before all those murdered people start coming back from the dead and join a zombie army that will change our world and Stark’s forever.

Death bites. Life is worse. All things considered, Hell’s not looking so bad.

It's been a long time since I've had a book series that could tickle me so. I've read so many books in my life and to get something so surprisingly creative and unexpectedly funny at the same time is miraculous. And the joy of it is there are FIVE books in this series. I have them all and I've even listened to them again. I think Richard. Kadrey has found his perfect milieu. I can't say I like his others books so much but this series stands in a place of honor. The same for MacLeod Andrews as the narrator. His kaleidoscope of voices is just wonderful PLUS he can do women's voices without sounding like a transgender. I only wish there were more books. I remember when I discovered Patrick O'Brian and found he had 22 books... if only Sandman Slim had that many...

eep looking for a series that will keep it interesting the whole way through. Thought I had found what I had been searching for but......!!!! The first half was good and parts of the middle BUT the ending was a let down. The title character "Sandman Slim" had lots of issues. Wanted to slap him in the mouth and say grow up you punk. To much sappy memories talk about a girl that he only knew for a brief time and was willing to watch the world burn in order to find revenge. MacLeod did an excellent job in keeping the story rolling BUT at times "Sandman Slim" sounded more like a whinny baby than a stoned faced killer. With all that being said I'm going to attempt the 3nd book in the series and see where it leads.

The zombie havoc in LA was well done. Also, the little girl ghost was really creepy.

What does MacLeod Andrews bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

he just has the attitude of this series down pat. He also has a great range of voices and makes the whole greater han the sum of its parts.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No.

Any additional comments?

Two things I generally don't like are stories about time travel or zombies. In this case the author made a zombie story that was actually interesting and fun. You can't go wrong with this book or the series as a whole.

i found ktd (kill the dead) entertaining but not as entertaining as sandman slim. stark is more of a gumshoe this time around. he works for the golden vigil, collecting a gov't check. stark's brought in for his opinion of the death of an old sub rosa. as the story progresses, we learn more about the sub rosa and their factions.

uriel and candy are on the run and stark comes across a new partner, bridgette bardow, a porn star gypsy who hunts revenants (zombies). she teaches him the proper way to subdue a revenant by tearing out its spinal cord.

in ktd, you never get the sense that stark is evenly matched or outmatched like in sandman slim.

i found lucifer scarier and more terrifying in sandman slim. even though he had a few minor parts, he oozed power. the narrator's calm, easy tone conveyed lucifer's confidence and power. you hung on every word. stark even seemed to bbe afraid of him, not wanting to speak out of turn nor dare be disrespectful. now, stark talks back and throws wise a$$ remarks lucifer's way. i don't get the abrupt change. in ktd, lucifer is portrayed as a celebrity with people fawning over him instead of fearing him and putting their arm around him instead of cowering in fear. this was my biggest disappointment.

macleod andrew's performance was great again. he even pulls off an eastern european porn star. lol

overall, a pretty good follow-up. i grade it a sohmore slump after being blown away by the first book. don't get me wrong, i've already downloaded the 3rd book.

. just gets better and better, can't wait to read the third book in the series. Narrator MacLeod Andrew is fantastic, Richard Kadrey really knows how to keep a story moving thee were NEVER any dull moments. It all ended to soon for me. I hope that Audible will be getting more from this author.

Stark, our monster killing, bounty hunting Nephilim purged from hell to do Lucifer’s bidding; for a price of course, we all have to live and pay bills. In this volume Lucifer heads to Hollywood for a movie to be made of his life. In human form Lucifer needs a body guard and Sandman Slim fits the bill perfectly. Stark hates the work, but Lucifer pays well and as said we all have bills to pay. While in Hollywood Stark meets porn star Brigitte Bardot and has a very rewarding experience. After eleven years of celibacy it’s real rewarding! Things don’t continue to go well though. Zombies appear on the scene and unfortunately Brigitte and Stark are bitten. The reaction to the bite for Stark is not so pleasant. It’s killing his human side and the angel side is getting quite grim and treacherous. Stark naturally feels less conflicted. The doc, Kinsky offers to help Stark, but he’s not so sure he wants help. How will this turn out? Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion.

This by-the-numbers detective-noir story based in a Los Angeles overrun with supernatural elements also extends and deepens the character and Hell of Sandman Slim, while also throwing a bunch of zombies at us.

I hear tell that the subsequent books increase the punch of the stories themselves, and I look forward to that.

The real star of this audiobook is MacLeod Andrews, who is given plenty of scenery to chew, and obviously has a grand time chewing it.